Insecticidal proteins from bacillus thuringiensis

ABSTRACT

The invention pertains to novel insecticidal compounds derived from  Bacillus thuringiensis  strains. New proteins designated Cry1Jd, Cry9Fa, and Cry1Bf, and insecticidal fragments thereof are provided, as well as DNA sequences encoding these proteins or their insecticidal fragments. Further provided are recombinant hosts expressing such proteins, particularly plant cells and plants.

INTRODUCTION

The present invention relates to new DNA sequences encoding insecticidal proteins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis strains. Particularly, new DNA sequences encoding proteins designated as Cry9Fa, Cry1Jd, and Cry1Bf are provided which are useful to protect plants from insect damage. Also included herein are micro-organisms and plants transformed with at least one of the newly isolated genes so that they are useful to confer insect resistance by expression of insecticidal protein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(i) Field of the Invention:

Bt or Bacillus thuringiensis is well known for its specific toxicity to insect pests, and has been used since almost a century to control insect pests of plants. In more recent years, transgenic plants expressing Bt proteins were made which were found to successfully control insect damage on plants (e.g., Vaeck et al., 1987).

Despite the isolation of a number of Bt crystal protein genes, the search for new genes encoding insecticidal proteins continues. Indeed, insecticidal Bt crystal proteins are known to have a relatively narrow target insect range compared to chemical insecticides. Also, having multiple toxins active on the same target insect species allows the use of proteins having different modes of action so that insect resistance development can be prevented or delayed.

(ii) Description of Related Art:

Previously, several types of Cry1B-, Cry1J-, and Cry9-proteins were identified (see Crickmore et al., 1998, incorporated herein by reference, for all details).

The new Cry1Bf protein has the closest sequence identity with the Cry1Be protein (Payne et al, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,758), but still differs in about 14 percent of the amino add sequence of its toxic protein fragment with the toxic fragment of the Cry1Be protein. The closest sequence identity with the Cry1Jd toxic fragment was found in the toxic fragment of the Cry1Jc1 protein (U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,758), but the toxic fragments of both proteins still differ in about 18% of their amino acid sequence.

The closest sequence identity with the Cry9Fa toxic fragment was found with the toxic fragment of the Cry9Ea1 protein as described by Midoh et al. (PCT Patent publication WO 98/26073) and Narva et al. (PCT patent publication WO 98/00546), but the toxic fragments of the Cry9Fa and Cry9Ea proteins still differ in about 21% of their amino acid sequence.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention is provided a DNA sequence encoding a protein comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: a) the amino acid sequence of the insecticidal trypsin-digestion fragment of the protein encoded by the cry1Bf gene deposited at the BCCM-LMBP under accession number LMBP 3986, b) the amino acid sequence of the insecticidal trypsin-digestion fragment of the protein encoded by the cry1Jd gene deposited at the BCCM-LMBP under accession number LMBP 3983, and c) the amino acid sequence of the insecticidal trypsin-digestion fragment of the protein encoded by the cry9Fa gene deposited at the BCCM-LMBP under accession number LMBP 3984.

Particularly preferred in accordance with this invention is a DNA sequence encoding a protein comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: the amino acid sequence of an insecticidal fragment of the protein of SEQ ID No. 2, the amino acid sequence of an insecticidal fragment of the protein of SEQ ID No. 4, and the amino acid sequence of an insecticidal fragment of the protein of SEQ ID No. 6; alternatively, a DNA encoding a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of the group selected from: the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 2, the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 4, the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 6; or a DNA sequence comprising the DNA sequence of SEQ ID No. 1, SEQ ID No. 3, or SEQ ID No. 5.

Further, in accordance with this invention are provided DNA sequences encoding at least the following portions of the newly-isolated proteins: the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 2 from amino acid position 1 to amino acid position 640, the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 4 from amino acid position 1 to amino acid position 596, and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 6 from amino acid position 1 to amino acid position 652.

Further, in accordance with this invention are provided the above DNA sequences comprising an artificial DNA sequence having a different codon usage compared to the naturally occurring DNA sequence but encoding the same protein or its insecticidal fragment.

Even further provided in accordance with this invention is a protein comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: a) the amino acid sequence of the insecticidal trypsin-digestion fragment of the protein encoded by the cry1Bf gene deposited at the BCCM-LMBP under accession number LMBP 3986, b) the amino acid sequence of the insecticidal trypsin-digestion fragment of the protein encoded by the cry1Jd gene deposited at the BCCM-LMBP under accession number LMBP 3983, and c) the amino acid sequence of the insecticidal trypsin-digestion fragment of the protein encoded by the cry9Fa gene deposited at the BCCM-LMBP under accession number LMBP 3984.

Particularly preferred herein is a protein comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: the amino acid sequence of an insecticidal fragment of the protein of SEQ ID No. 2, the amino acid sequence of an insecticidal fragment of the protein of SEQ ID No. 4, and the amino acid sequence of an insecticidal fragment of the protein of SEQ ID No. 6; alternatively a protein, comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 2 from amino acid position 1 to amino acid position 640, the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 4 from amino acid position 1 to amino acid position 596, and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 6 from amino acid position 1 to amino acid position 652; or a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 2, SEQ ID No. 4, or SEQ ID No. 6.

Also provided herein are chimeric genes comprising the DNA as defined above under the control of a plant-expressible promoter, and plant cells, plants or seeds transformed to contain those chimeric genes, particularly plant cells, plants, or seeds selected from the group consisting of: corn, cotton, rice, oilseed rape, Brassica species, eggplant, soybean, potato, sunflower, tomato, sugarcane, tea, beans, tobacco, strawberry, clover, cucumber, watermelon, pepper, oat, barley, wheat, dahlia, gladiolus, chrysanthemum, sugarbeet, sorghum, alfalfa, and peanut. In accordance with this invention, the chimeric gene can be integrated in the nuclear or chloroplast DNA of the plant cells.

Further in accordance with this invention are provided micro-organisms, transformed to contain any of the above DNA sequences, particularly those selected from the genus Agrobacterium, Escherichia, or Bacillus.

Also provided herein is a process for controlling insects, comprising expressing any of the above DNA sequences in a host cell, particularly plant cells, and contacting insects with said host cells, and a process for rendering a plant resistant to insects, comprising transforming plants cells with any of the above DNA sequences or chimeric genes, and regenerating transformed plants from such cells which are resistant to insects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In accordance with this invention, DNA sequences encoding new Bt toxins have been isolated and characterized. The new genes were designated cry1Bf, cry1Jd and cry9Fa, and their encoded proteins Cry1Bf, Cry1Jd and Cry9Fa.

in accordance with this invention “Cry1Bf protein” refers to any protein comprising the smallest protein fragment of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 2 which retains insecticidal activity, particularly any protein comprising the amino acid sequence from the amino acid at position 1 to the amino acid at position 640 in SEQ ID No. 2, including but not limited to the complete protein with the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 2. This includes hybrids or chimeric proteins comprising the smallest toxic protein fragment, as well as proteins containing at least one of the three functional domains of the toxic fragment of SEQ ID No. 2. The term “DNA/protein comprising the sequence X”, as used herein, refers to a DNA or protein including or containing at least the sequence X, so that other nucleotide or amino acid sequences can be included at the 5′ (or N-terminal) and/or 3′ (or C-terminal) end, e.g. (the nucleotide sequence of) a selectable marker protein as disclosed in EP 0 193 259.

In accordance with this invention, “Cry9Fa protein” or “Cry9F protein” refers to any protein comprising the smallest protein fragment of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 6 which retains insecticidal activity, particularly any protein comprising the amino acid sequence from the amino acid, at position 1 to the amino acid at position 652 in SEQ ID No. 6, including but not limited to the complete protein with the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 6. This includes hybrids or chimeric proteins comprising the smallest toxic protein fragment, as well as proteins containing at least one of the three functional domains of the toxic fragment of SEQ ID No. 6.

In accordance with this invention, “Cry1Jd protein” refers to any protein comprising the smallest protein fragment of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 4 which retains insecticidal activity, particularly any protein comprising the amino acid sequence from the amino acid at position 1 to the amino acid at position 596 in SEQ ID No. 4, including but not limited to the complete protein with the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 4. This includes hybrids or chimeric proteins comprising the smallest toxic protein fragment, as well as proteins containing at least one of the three functional domains of the toxic fragment of SEQ ID No. 4.

As used herein, the terms “cry1Bf DNA”, “cry9Fa DNA”, or “cry1Jd DNA”, refer to any DNA sequence encoding the Cry1Bf, Cry9Fa, or Cry1Jd protein, respectively, as defined above. This includes naturally occurring, artificial or synthetic DNA sequences encoding the newly isolated proteins or their insecticidal fragments as defined above. Also included herein are DNA sequences encoding insecticidal proteins which are similar enough to the coding regions of the genomic DNA sequences deposited or the sequences provided in the sequence listing so that they can (i.e., have the ability to) hybridize to these DNA sequences under stringent hybridization conditions. Stringent hybridization conditions, as used herein, refers particularly to the following conditions: immobilizing the relevant genomic DNA sequences on a filter, and prehybridizing the filters for either 1 to 2 hours in 50% formamide, 5% SSPE, 2×Denhardt's reagent and 0.1% SDS at 42° C. or 1 to 2 hours in 6×SSC, 2×Denhardt's reagent and 0.1% SDS at 68° C. The denatured labeled probe is then added directly to the prehybridization fluid and incubation is carried out for 16 to 24 hours at the appropriate temperature mentioned above. After incubation, the filters are then washed for 20 minutes at room temperature in 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS, followed by three washes of 20 minutes each at 68° C. in 0.2×SSC and 0.1% SDS. An autoradiograph is established by exposing the filters for 24 to 48 hours to X-ray film (Kodak XAR-2 or equivalent) at −70° C. with an intensifying screen. Of course, equivalent conditions and parameters can be used in this process while still retaining the desired stringent hybridization conditions. One of such equivalent conditions includes: immobilizing the relevant genomic DNA sequences on a filter, and prehybridizing the filters for either 1 to 2 hours in 50% formamide, 5% SSPE, 2×Denhardt's reagent and 0.1% SDS at 42° C. or 1 to 2 hours in 6×SSC, 2×Denhardt's reagent and 0.1% SDS at 68° C. The denatured (dig- or radio-)labeled probe is then added directly to the prehybridization fluid and incubation is carried out for 16 to 24 hours at the appropriate temperature mentioned above. After incubation, the filters are then washed for 30 minutes at room temperature in 2×SSC, 0.1% SDS, followed by 2 washes of 30 minutes each at 68° C. in 0.5×SSC and 0.1% SDS. An autoradiograph is established by exposing the filters for 24 to 48 hours to X-ray film (Kodak XAR-2 or equivalent) at −70° C. with an intensifying screen

“Insecticidal activity” of a protein, as used herein, means the capacity of a protein to kill insects when such protein is fed to insects, preferably by expression in a recombinant host such as a plant. “Insect-controlling amounts” of a protein, as used herein, refers to an amount of protein which is sufficient to limit damage on a plant by insects feeding on such plant to commercially acceptable levels, e.g. by killing the insects or by inhibiting the insect development or growth in such a manner that they provide less damage to a plant and plant yield is not significantly adversely affected.

In accordance with this invention, insects susceptible to the new Cry proteins of the invention are contacted with this protein in insect-controlling amounts, preferably insecticidal amounts.

“Cry protein” or “Cry protein of this invention”, as used herein, refers to any one of the new proteins isolated in accordance with this invention and identified herein as Cry1Bf, Cry9Fa, or Cry1Jd protein. A Cry protein, as used herein, can be a protein in the full length size, also named a protoxin, or can be in a slightly or fully (e.g., N- and C-terminal truncation) truncated form as long as the insecticidal activity is retained, or can be a combination of different proteins or protein parts in a hybrid or fusion protein. A “Cry protoxin” refers to the full length crystal protein as it is encoded by the naturally-occurring Bt DNA sequence, a “Cry toxin” refers to an insecticidal fragment thereof, particularly the smallest toxic fragment thereof, typically in the molecular weight range of about 60 to about 80 kD as determined by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. A “cry gene” or “cry DNA”, as used herein, is a DNA sequence encoding a Cry protein in accordance with this invention, referring to any of the cry1Bf, cry9Fa, and cry1Jd DNA sequences defined above.

The “smallest toxic fragment” of a Cry protein, as used herein, is that fragment as can be obtained by trypsin or chymotrypsin digestion of the full length solubilized crystal protein that retains toxicity, or that toxic protein fragment encoded by DNA fragments of the Cry protein. This protein will mostly have a short N-terminal and a long C-terminal truncation compared to the protoxin. Although for recombinant expression, toxic fragments starting at or around original amino acid position 1 are a more preferred embodiment in accordance with this invention, it should be noted that besides a C-terminal truncation, some N-terminal amino acids can also be deleted while retaining the insecticidal character of the protein. The N-terminal end of the smallest toxic fragment is conveniently determined by N-terminal amino acid sequence determination of trypsin- or chymotrypsin-treated soluble crystal protein by techniques routinely available in the art.

Dna encoding the Cry proteins of this invention can be isolated in a conventional manner from the E. coli strains, deposited on Nov. 25, 1999 at the BCCM-LMBP under accession numbers LMBP 3983, LMBP 3984, LMBP 3985 and LMBP 3986. The encoded Cry proteins can be used to prepare specific monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies in a conventional manner (Höfte et al., 1988). The toxin forms can be obtained by protease (e.g., trypsin) digestion of the Cry protoxins.

The DNA sequences encoding the Cry proteins can be isolated in a conventional manner from the respective strains or can be synthesized based on the encoded amino acid sequence.

The DNA sequences encoding the Cry proteins of the invention were identified by digesting total DNA from isolated Bt strains with restriction enzymes; size fractionating the DNA fragments, so produced, into DNA fractions of 5 to 10 Kb; ligating these fractions to cloning vectors; screening the E. coli, transformed with the cloning vectors, with a DNA probe that was constructed from a region of known Bt crystal protein genes or with a DNA probe based on specific PCR fragments generated from Bt DNA using primers corresponding to known Bt crystal protein genes.

Also, DNA sequences for use in this invention can be made synthetically. Indeed, because of the degeneracy of the genetic code, some amino acid codons can be replaced with others without changing the amino acid sequence of the protein. Furthermore, some amino acids can be substituted by other equivalent amino acids without significantly changing the insecticidal activity of the protein. Also, changes in amino acid sequence or composition in regions of the molecule, different from those responsible for binding and toxicity (e.g.; pore formation) are less likely to cause a difference in insecticidal activity of the protein. Such equivalents of the gene include DNA sequences hybridizing to the DNA sequence of the Cry toxins or protoxins of SEQ ID. No. 2, 4, or 6 under stringent conditions and encoding a protein with the same insecticidal characteristics as the (pro)toxin of this invention, or DNA sequences encoding proteins with an amino acid sequence identity of at least 85%, preferably at least 90%, most preferably at least 95%, with the protein toxin form (from the N-terminus to 2 amino acids beyond conserved sequence block 5 as defined in Schnepf et al., 1998) or with the protein protoxin form of the Cry1Bf, Cry9FA or Cry1Jd proteins of this invention, as determined using the GAP program of the Wisconsin package of GCG (Madison, Wis., USA, version 10.0; GCG defaults were used within the GAP program; for the amino acid sequence comparisons, the blosum62 scoring matrix was used).

Of course, any other DNA sequence differing in its codon usage but encoding the same protein or a similar protein with substantially the same insecticidal activity, can be constructed, depending on the particular purpose. It has been described in prokaryotic and eucaryotic expression systems that changing the codon usage to that of the host cell is desired for gene expression in foreign hosts (Bennetzen & Hall, 1982; Itakura, 1977). Furthermore, Bt crystal protein genes are known to have no bias towards eucaryotic codons, and to be very AT-rich (Adang et al., 1985, Schnepf et al., 1985). Codon usage tables are available in the literature (Wada et al., 1990; Murray et al., 1989) and in the major DNA sequence databanks (e.g. EMBL at Heidelberg, Germany). Accordingly, synthetic DNA sequences can be constructed so that the same or substantially the same proteins are produced. It is evident that several DNA sequences can be devised once the amino acid sequence of the Cry proteins of this invention is known. Such other DNA sequences include synthetic or semi-synthetic DNA sequences that have been changed in order to inactivate certain sites in the gene, e.g. by selectively inactivating certain cryptic regulatory or processing elements present in the native sequence as described in PCT publications WO 91/16432 and WO 93/09218, or by adapting the overall codon usage to that of a more related host organism, preferably that of the host organism in which expression is desired. When making such genes, the encoded amino acid sequence should be retained to the maximum extent possible, although truncations or minor replacements or additions of amino acids can be done as long as the toxicity of the protein is not negatively affected.

Small modifications to a DNA sequence such as described above can be routinely made by PCR-mediated mutagenesis (Ho et al., 1989, White et al., 1989).

With the term “substantially the same”, when referring to a protein, is meant to include a protein that differs in some amino acids, or has some amino acids added (e.g. a fusion protein, see Vaeck et al., 1987) or deleted (e.g. N- or C-terminal truncation), as long as the protein has no major difference in its insecticidal activity.

The term “functional domain” of a Cry toxin as used herein means any part(s) or domain(s) of the toxin with a specific structure that can be transferred to another (Cry) protein for providing a new hybrid protein with at least one functional characteristic (e.g., the binding and/or toxicity characteristics) of the Cry toxin of the invention (Ge et al., 1991). Such parts can form an essential feature of the hybrid Bt protein with the binding and/or toxicity characteristics of the Cry protein of this invention. Such a hybrid protein can have an enlarged host range, an improved toxicity and/or can be used in a strategy to prevent insect resistance development (European Patent Publication (“EP”) 408 403; Visser et al., 1993).

The 5 to 10 Kb fragments, prepared from total DNA of the Bt strains of the invention, can be ligated in suitable expression vectors and transformed in E. coli, and the clones can then be screened by conventional colony immunoprobing methods (French et al., 1986) for expression of the toxin with monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies raised against the Cry proteins, or by hybridization with DNA probes.

Also/the 5 to 10 Kb fragments, prepared from total DNA of the Bt strains of the invention or fragments thereof cloned and/or subcloned in E. coli, can be ligated in suitable Bt shuttle vectors (Lereclus et al., 1992) and transformed in a crystal minus Bt-mutant. The clones are then screened for production of crystals (detected by microscopy) or crystal proteins (detected by SDS-PAGE).

The genes encoding the Cry proteins of this invention can be sequenced in a conventional manner (Maxam and Gilbert, 1980; Sanger, 1977) to obtain the DNA sequence. Sequence comparisons indicated that the genes are different from previously described genes encoding protoxins and toxins with activity against Lepidoptera (Höfte and Whiteley, 1989; Crickmore, et al., 1998); and the Dec. 15, 1999 and Oct. 16, 2000 updates on the Bt nomenclature website corresponding to the Crickmore et al. (1998) publication, found at:

http://epunix.biols.susx.ac.uk/Home/Neil_Crickmore/Bt/index.html

An insecticidally effective part of the DNA sequences, encoding an insecticidally effective portion of the newly identified Cry protein protoxin forms, can be made in a conventional manner after sequence analysis of the gene. In such fragments, it is preferred that at least the sequence up to the C-terminal end of conserved sequence block 5 of Bt proteins (Hofte & Whiteley, 1989; Schnepf et al., 1998), preferably up to two amino acids C-terminal of the conserved sequence block 5, is retained. The amino acid sequence of the Cry proteins can be determined from the DNA sequence of the isolated DNA sequences. By “an insecticidally effective part” of DNA sequences encoding the Cry protein, also referred to herein as “truncated gene” or “truncated DNA”, is meant a DNA sequence encoding a polypeptide which has fewer amino acids than the Cry protein protoxin form but which is insecticidal to insects.

In order to express all or an insecticidally effective part of the DNA sequence encoding a Cry protein of this invention in E. coli, in other Bt strains and in plants, suitable restriction sites can be introduced, flanking the DNA sequence. This can be done by site-directed mutagenesis, using well-known procedures (Stanssens et al., 1989; White et al., 1989). In order to obtain improved expression in plants, the codon usage of the cry gene or insecticidally effective cry gene part of this invention can be modified to form an equivalent, modified or artificial gene or gene part in accordance with PCT publications WO 91/16432 and WO 93/09218; EP 0 358 962 and EP 0 359 472, or the Bt genes or gene parts can be inserted in the chloroplast genome and expressed there using a chloropast-active promoter (e.g., Mc Bride et al., 1995). For obtaining enhanced expression in monocot plants such as corn, a monocot intron also can be added to the chimeric gene, and the DNA sequence of the cry gene or its insecticidal part of this invention can be further changed in a translationally neutral manner, to modify possibly inhibiting DNA sequences present in the gene part by means of site-directed intron insertion and/or by introducing changes to the codon usage, e.g., adapting the codon usage to that most preferred by the specific plant (Murray et al., 1989) without changing significantly the encoded amino acid sequence.

Furthermore, the binding properties of the Cry proteins of the invention can be evaluated, using methods known in the art (Van Rie et al., 1990), to determine if the Cry proteins of the invention bind to sites on the insect midgut that are different from those recognized by other, known Cry or other Bt proteins. Bt toxins with different binding sites in relevant susceptible insects are very valuable to replace known Bt toxins to which insects may have developed resistance, or to use in combination with Bt toxins having a different mode of action to prevent or delay the development of insect resistance against Bt toxins, particularly when expressed in a plant. Because of the characteristics of the newly isolated Bt toxins, they are extremely useful for transforming plants, e.g. monocots such as corn or rice and vegetables such as Brassica species plants, to protect these plants from insect damage.

The insecticidally effective cry gene part or its equivalent, preferably the cry chimeric gene, encoding an insecticidally effective portion of the Cry protoxin, can be stably inserted in a conventional manner into the nuclear genome of a single plant cell, and the so-transformed plant cell can be used in a conventional manner to produce a transformed plant that is insect-resistant. In this regard, a disarmed Ti-plasmid, containing the insecticidally effective cry gene part, in Agrobacterium tumefaciens can be used to transform the plant cell, and thereafter, a transformed plant can be regenerated from the transformed plant cell using the procedures described, for example, in EP 0 116 718, EP 0 270 822, PCT publication WO 84/02913 and published European Patent application (“EP”) 0 242 246 and in Gould et al. (1991). Preferred Ti-plasmid vectors each contain the insecticidally effective cry gene part between the border sequences, or at least located to the left of the right border sequence, of the T-DNA of the Ti-plasmid. Of course, other types of vectors can be used to transform the plant cell, using procedures such as direct gene transfer (as described, for example in EP 0 233 247), pollen mediated transformation (as described, for example in EP 0 270 356, PCT publication WO 85/01856, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,611), plant RNA virus-mediated transformation (as described, for example in EP 0 067 553 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,956), liposome-mediated transformation (as described, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,475), and other methods such as the recently described methods for transforming certain lines of corn (Fromm et al., 1990; Gordon-Kamm et al., 1990) and rice (Shimamoto et al., 1989; Datta et al., 1990) and the recently described method for transforming monocots generally (PCT publication WO 92/09696).

The resulting transformed plant can be used in a conventional plant breeding scheme to produce more transformed plants with the same characteristics or to introduce the insecticidally effective cry gene part in other varieties of the same or related plant species. Seeds, which are obtained from the transformed plants, contain the insecticidally effective cry gene part as a stable genomic insert. Cells of the transformed plant can be cultured in a conventional manner to produce the insecticidally effective portion of the Cry protoxin, preferably the Cry toxin, which can be recovered for use in conventional insecticide compositions against Lepidoptera (U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,799). In accordance with this invention, plants or seeds of the invention can be used to obtain resistance to insects, e.g. by sowing or planting in a field wherein damaging insects usually occur, said seeds or plants. Methods for obtaining insect resistance and methods for obtaining improved yield or reduced insect damage are thus provided in accordance with the invention by planting or sowing in a field, preferably a field wherein damaging insects feeding on such plants usually occur or are expected to occur at levels which provide economic damage to the plants, the plants of seeds of the invention producing the Cry proteins of the invention.

The insecticidally effective cry gene part, preferably the truncated cry gene, is inserted in a plant cell genome so that the inserted gene is downstream (i.e. 3′) of, and under the control of, a promoter which can direct the expression of the gene part in the plant cell. This is preferably accomplished by inserting the cry chimeric gene in the plant cell genome, particularly in the nuclear or chloroplast genome. Preferred promoters include: the strong constitutive 35S promoters (the “35S promoters”) of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) of isolates CM 1841 (Gardner et al., 1981), CabbB-S (Franck et al., 1980) and CabbB-JI (Hull and Howell, 1987); promoters from the ubiquitin family (e.g., the maize ubiquitin promoter of Christensen et al., 1992, see also Cornejo et al., 1993), the gos2 promoter (de Pater et al., 1992), the emu promoter (Last et al., 1990), rice actin promoters such as the promoter described by Zhang et al. (1991); and the TR1′ promoter and the TR2′ promoter (the “TR1 promoter” and “TR2′ promoter”, respectively) which drive the expression of the 1′ and 2′ genes, respectively, of the T-DNA (Velten et al., 1984). Alternatively, a promoter can be utilized which is not constitutive but rather is specific for one or more tissues or organs of the plant (e.g., leaves and/or roots) whereby the inserted cry gene part is expressed only in cells of the specific tissue(s) or organ(s). For example, the insecticidally effective cry gene part could be selectively expressed in the leaves of a plant (e.g., corn, cotton) by placing the insecticidally effective gene part under the control of a light-inducible promoter such as the promoter of the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit gene of the plant itself or of another plant such as pea as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,799. Another alternative is to use a promoter whose expression is inducible (e.g., by temperature, wounding or chemical factors).

The insecticidally effective cry gene part is inserted in the plant genome so that the inserted gene part is upstream (i.e., 5′) of suitable 3′ end transcription regulation signals (i.e., transcript formation and polyadenylation signals). This is preferably accomplished by inserting the cry chimeric gene in the plant cell genome. Preferred polyadenylation and transcript formation signals include those of the octopine synthase gene (Gielen et al., 1984) and the T-DNA gene 7 (Velten and Schell, 1985), which act as 3′-untranslated DNA sequences in transformed plant cells.

The insecticidally effective cry gene part can optionally be inserted in the plant genome as a hybrid gene (U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,799; Vaeck et al., 1987) under the control of the same promoter as a selectable marker gene, such as the neo gene (EP 0 242 236) encoding kanamycin resistance, so that the plant expresses a fusion protein.

All or part of the cry gene, encoding an anti-lepidopteran protein, can also be used to transform other bacteria, such as a B. thuringiensis which has insecticidal activity against Lepidoptera or Coleoptera. Thereby, a transformed Bt strain can be produced which is useful for combatting a wide spectrum of lepidopteran and coleopteran insect pests or for combatting additional lepidopteran insect pests. Transformation of bacteria, such as bacteria of the genus Agrobacterium, Bacillus or Escherichia, with all or part of the cry gene of this invention, incorporated in a suitable cloning vehicle, can be carried out in a conventional manner, preferably using conventional electroporation techniques as described in Mahillon et al. (1989) and in PCT Patent publication WO 90/06999.

Transformed Bacillus species strains containing the cry gene of this invention can be fermented by conventional methods (Dulmage, 1981; Bernhard and Utz, 1993) to provide high yields of cells. Under appropriate conditions which are well understood (Dulmage, 1981), these strains each sporulate to produce crystal proteins containing the Cry protoxin in high yields.

An insecticidal, particularly anti-lepidopteran, composition of this invention can be formulated in a conventional manner using the microorganisms transformed with the cry gene, or preferably their respective Cry proteins or the Cry protoxin, toxin or insecticidally effective protoxin portion as an active ingredient, together with suitable carriers, diluents, emulsifiers and/or dispersants (e.g., as described by Bernhard and Utz, 1993). This insecticide composition can be formulated as a wettable powder, pellets, granules or dust or as a liquid formulation with aqueous or non-aqueous solvents as a foam, gel, suspension, concentrate, etc.

A method for controlling insects, particularly Lepidoptera, in accordance with this invention can comprise applying (e.g., spraying), to a locus (area) to be protected, an insecticidal amount of the Cry proteins or host cells transformed with the cry gene of this invention. The locus to be protected can include, for example, the habitat of the insect pests or growing vegetation or an area where vegetation is to be grown.

To obtain the Cry protoxin or toxin, cells of the recombinant hosts expressing the Cry protein can be grown in a conventional manner on a suitable culture medium and then lysed using conventional means such as enzymatic degradation or detergents or the like. The protoxin can then be separated and purified by standard techniques such as chromatography, extraction, electrophoresis, or the like. The toxin can then be obtained by trypsin digestion of the protoxin.

The following Examples illustrate the invention, and are not provided to limit the invention or the protection sought. The sequence listing referred to in the Examples, the Claims and the Description is as follows:

Sequence Listing:

SEQ ID No. 1—amino acid and DNA sequence of Cry1Bf protein and DNA SEQ ID No. 2—amino acid sequence of Cry1Bf protein. SEQ ID No. 3—amino acid and DNA sequence of Cry1Jd protein and DNA. SEQ ID No. 4—amino acid sequence Cry1Jd protein. SEQ ID No. 5—amino acid and DNA sequence of Cry9Fa protein and DNA. SEQ ID No 6—amino acid sequence of Cry9Fa protein. SEQ ID No. 7—DNA sequence for primer Cry1B.fw. SEQ ID No. 8—DNA sequence for primer B.R. SEQ ID No. 9—DNA sequence for primer B.F. SEQ ID No. 10—DNA sequence for primer JFW. SEQ ID No. 11—DNA sequence for primer JRV. SEQ ID No. 12—DNA sequence for primer 9FW. SEQ ID No. 13—DNA sequence for primer 9RV.

Unless otherwise stated in the Examples, all procedures for making and manipulating recombinant DNA are carried out by the standard procedures described in Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning—A Laboratory Manual, Second Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, NY (1989), and in Volumes 1 and 2 of Ausubel et al. (1994) Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Current Protocols, USA. Standard materials and methods for plant molecular biology work are described in Plant Molecular Biology Labfax (1993) by R. R. D. Croy, jointly published by BIOS Scientific Publications Ltd (UK) and Blackwell Scientific Publications (UK). Procedures for PCR technology can be found in “PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications”, Edited by M. A. Innis, D. H. Gelfand, J. J. Sninsky and T. J. White (Academic Press, Inc., 1990).

EXAMPLES Example 1 Characterization of the Strains

The BtS02072BG strain was isolated from a grain dust sample collected in Santo Tomas la Union, Ilocos, Philippines. The BtS02739C strain was isolated from a grain dust sample collected in Lucena City, South Tagalog, Philippines.

Each strain can be cultivated on conventional standard media, preferably T₃ medium (tryptone 3 g/l, tryptose 2 g/l, yeast extract 1.5 g/l, 5 mg MnCl₂, 0.05 M Na₂HPO₄.2H₂O, 0.05 M NaH₂PO₄.H₂O, pH 6.8 and 1.5% agar), preferably at 28° C. For long term storage, it is preferred to mix an equal volume of a spore-crystal suspension with an equal volume of 50% glycerol and store this at −70° C. or lyophilize a spore-crystal suspension. For sporulation, growth on T₃ medium is preferred for 72 hours at 28° C., followed by storage at 4° C. The crystal proteins produced by the strains during sporulation are packaged in crystals.

Example 2 Insecticidal Activity of the BtS02072BG and BtS02739C Strains Against Selected Lepidopteran Insect Species

Toxicity assays were performed on neonate larvae of Helicoverpa zea, Heliothis virescens, Ostrinia nubilalis, Spodoptera frugiperda and Sesamia nonagrioides fed on an artificial diet layered with spore-crystal mixtures from either BtS02072BG or BtS02739C, at about 10⁹ spore-crystals per ml.

The artificial diet (Vanderzant, 1962) was dispensed in wells of Costar 24-well plates for tests on H. zea, H. virescens and O. nubilalis. 50 microliter of the spore-crystal mixture was applied on the surface of the diet and dried in a laminar air flow. For tests on H. zea, H. virescens, one larva was placed in each well and 20 larvae were used per sample. For tests on O. nubilalis, 2 larvae were placed in each well and 24 larvae were used per sample. The artificial diet was dispensed in wells of Costar 48-well plates for tests on S. frugiperda and S. nonagrioides. 25 microliter of the spore-crystal mixture was applied on the surface of the diet and dried in a laminar air flow. One larva was placed in each well and 18 larvae were used per sample. Dead and living larvae were counted on the seventh day. The percentage of dead larvae are shown in Table I below.

TABLE I Percentage of dead larvae upon application of crystal-spore mixture to insects: BTS02072BG BTS02739C H. zea 70 15 H. virescens 85-50 80-60 O. nubilalis 92 72 S. frugiperda 6 Not tested S. nonagroides 100 Not tested

Example 3 Characterization of New Cry Genes

The BtS02739C genes were detected by PCR using degenerate primers targeting conserved regions in known cry genes. The resulting amplification product was purified using the Wizard PCR preps (Promega) purification system and ligated into pGEM-T vector (Promega). The ligation mixture was electroporated into E. coli JM101. A miniprep was made of at least 40 insert-containing transformants, and digests were performed with selected restriction enzymes. Following electrophoresis of the digested miniprep DNA, different DNA fragment patterns could be observed. For each pattern at least one colony was selected. An appropriate DNA prep was made in order to determine the sequence of the insert of the plasmid present in each selected colony. Alignment of the determined sequences of the amplification products with publicly available cry sequences demonstrates that strain BtS02739C contains a novel cry1J-type gene and a novel cry9-type gene.

The BtS02072BG gene was detected as follow. First, a PCR was performed using degenerate crystal protein gene primers on strain BtS02419J. The resulting amplification product was used as template in a secondary PCR using degenerate crystal protein primers

The resulting amplification product was purified using the Wizard PCR preps (Promega) purification system and ligated into pGEM-T vector (Promega). The ligation mixture was electroporated into XL1 Blue E. coli. A miniprep was made of at least 40 insert-containing transformants, and digests were performed with selected restriction enzymes. Following electrophoresis of the digested miniprep DNA, different DNA fragment patterns could be observed. For each pattern at least one colony was selected. An appropriate DNA prep was made in order to determine the sequence of the insert of the plasmid present in each selected colony.

From the cloned amplification products from strain BtS02419J, a sequence was found to be identical to the corresponding fragment of cry1Be1, except for one nucleotide difference. Next, primers were selected to evaluate the presence of a cry sequence similar to that of the sequenced cry gene fragment from BtS02419J in a number of Bt strains, one of them being strain BtS02072BG. These primers had the following sequence (5′ to 3′):

Forward primer: cry1B.fw: CAG TCC AAA CGG GTA TAA AC Reverse primer: B.R: CTG CTT CGA AGG TTG CAG TA

Alignment of the determined sequences from the amplification products with publicly available cry sequences demonstrates that strain BtS02072BG contains a novel cry1B-type gene.

Example 4 Cloning and Expression of the Cry Genes

In order to isolate the full length cry1J-type and cry9-type gene from BtS02739C, and the cry1B-type gene from BtS02072BG, total DNA from these strains was prepared and partially digested with Sau3A. The digested DNA was size fractionated on a sucrose gradient and fragments ranging from 5 Kb to 10 Kb were ligated to the BamH1-digested and TsAP (thermosensitive alkaline phosphatase)-treated cloning vector pUC19 (Yannisch-Perron et al, 1985). The ligation mixture was electroporated in E. coli XL1-Blue or E. coli JM109 cells. Transformants were plated on LB-triacillin plates containing Xgal and IPTG and white colonies were selected to be used in filter hybridization experiments. Recombinant E. coli clones containing the vector were then screened with the appropriate DIG labeled probes. These probes were prepared as follows. First, a PCR was performed using as template cells from a recombinant E. coli clone containing a plasmid harboring the particular cry gene fragment, previously amplified using appropriate primers as shown in Table II.

TABLE II primers used to isolate novel Bt DNA sequences (Y = C or T, S = G or C): Length of amplified strain gene primer fragment Primer sequence 2739C cry1J- JFW 365 bp GCA GCT AAT GCT ACC type ACA TC JRV GTG GCG GTA TGC TGA CTA AT cry9- 9FW 576 GYT TTT ATT CGC CCG type CCA CA 9RV CGA CAG TAG SAC CCA CTA CT 2072BG cry1B- B.F 922 CAG CGT ATT AAG TCG type ATG GA B.R CTG CTT CGA AGC TTG CAG TA

The resulting amplification product was gel-purified and used as template in a secondary PCR reaction using DIG-labeled dNTPs. An appropriate amount of this amplification product was used in hybridization reactions.

Colony hybridization for strain BtS02739C was performed with a mixture of the cry1J-type probe and the cry9-type probe. Positive colonies were then hybridized with each probe separately. Colony hybridization for strain BtS02072BG was performed with the cry1B-type probe. Following identification of a positive colony containing a plasmid harboring the full length cry gene, the sequence of the cry gene was determined using the dye terminator labeling method and a Perkin Elmer ABI Prism-377 DNA sequencer for both strands. Upon DNA sequencing, the genes were termed as follows: the cry1J-type and cry9-type gene from BtS02739C were named cry1Jd and cry9Fa, respectively, and the cry1B-type gene from BtS02072BG was named cry1Bf. The genomic sequences of the isolated cry1Jd, cry9Fa, and cry1Bf genes, as well as the proteins they encode, are shown in the Sequence Listing included in this application. Comparison of the sequences with known Cry DNA or protein sequences showed that the sequences are novel and differ in a substantial number of nucleotides or amino acids from known Bt genes and proteins. Tables III-V provide an overview of the sequence identity with respect to the coding regions of the most similar genes and proteins (both protoxin as toxin forms) as determined using the GAP program of the Wisconsin package of GCG (Madison, Wis., USA) version 10.0. GCG defaults were used within the GAP program. For nucleic acid sequence comparisons, the nwsgapdna scoring matrix was used, for amino acid sequence comparisons, the blosum62 scoring matrix. The toxin form, as used in Tables III-V, refers to the protein starting at the first amino acid and ending two amino acids beyond the last amino acid (usually a proline) of conserved sequence block 5, as defined in Schnepf et al. (1998). The protoxin form refers to the entire protein or coding region of the Bt protein/gene.

TABLE III Sequence identities for cry1Bf/Cry1Bf: DNA cry1Ba1 cry1Bb1 cry1Bc1 cry1Bd1 cry1Be1 Protoxin 91.912 83.890 77.207 83.565 93.774 Toxin 86.562 74.922 74.922 75.342 89.220 Protein Cry1Ba1 Cry1Bb1 Cry1Bc1 Cry1Bd1 Cry1Be1 Protoxin 89.869 80.193 75.795 80.933 92.170 Toxin 82.520 67.868 67.868 70.142 86.499

TABLE IV Sequence identities for cry9Fa/Cry9Fa: DNA cry9Aa1 cry9Ba1 cry9Ca1 cry9Da1 cry9Ea1 Protoxin 71.592 78.212 76.614 81.197 84.043 Toxin 51.782 62.720 68.215 75.593 81.618 Protein Cry9Aa1 Cry9Ba1 Cry9Ca1 Cry9Da1 Cry9Ea1 Protoxin 62.445 72.064 71.553 76.963 82.578 Toxin 35.828 52.167 59.133 68.372 78.858

TABLE V Sequence identities for cry1Jd/Cry1Jd: DNA cry1Ja1 cry1Jb1 cry1Jc1 protoxin 83.233 83.176 86.323 toxin 79.526 81.162 88.143 protein Cry1Ja1 Cry1Jb1 Cry1Jc1 protoxin 79.759 78.830 82.489 toxin 71.574 74.746 81.711

Genomic clones of the newly isolated genes have been deposited at the BCCM™-LMBP (Belgian Coordinated Collections of Microorganisms—Laboratorium voor Moleculaire Biologie-Plasmidencollectie, University of Gent, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium) under the following accession numbers:

-   -   LMBP 3983 for E coli JM109 containing plasmid pUC2739C/1Jd1         comprising the cry1Jd gene, deposited on Nov. 25, 1999 (this         gene can be isolated from this plasmid on an about 8.4 kb DNA         fragment by digestion with XhoI and SmaI);     -   LMBP 3984 for E coliJM109 containing plasmid pUC2739C/9Fa1         comprising the cry9Fa gene, deposited on Nov. 25, 1999 (this         gene can be isolated from this plasmid on an about 8 kb DNA         fragment by digestion with SacI and PstI); and

LMBP 3986 for E coli XL1 Blue containing plasmid pUC2072BG/1 Bf1 comprising the cry1Bf gene, deposited on Nov. 25, 1999 (this gene can be isolated from this plasmid on an about 7 kb DNA fragment by digestion with SacI and SalI).

Example 5 Insecticidal Activity of the Cry Genes

The insert containing the cry9Fa gene was subcloned into a suitable shuttle vector and the resulting plasmid pSL2739C/9Fa1 was introduced by routine procedures into a crystal-minus Bt strain. The crystal protein produced by a sporulated culture of this recombinant Bt strain was tested on neonate larvae of H. virescens and O. nubilalis at a concentration of about 10⁹ particles/ml. On O. nubilalis larvae, 100% mortality was observed, whereas 72% mortality was observed on H. virescens larvae, whereas after treatment with the crystal-minus control strain all larvae survived.

The insert containing the cry1Bf gene was subcloned into a suitable shuttle vector and the resulting plasmid pSL2072BG/1 Bf was introduced by routine procedures into a crystal-minus Bt strain. The crystal protein produced by a sporulated culture of this recombinant Bt strain was tested on larvae of Sesamia nonagrioides, Heliothis virescens, Helicoverpa zea and O. nubilalis at different concentrations. Significant high mortality of the Cry1Bf toxin was observed on H. virescens, Ostrinia nubilialis and Sesamia nonagrioides, while lower toxicity was found on Helicoverpa zea. After treatment with the crystal-minus control strain all larvae survived.

The insert containing the cry1Jd gene was subcloned into a suitable shuttle vector and the resulting plasmid pGI2739C/1Jd was introduced by routine procedures into a crystal-minus Bt strain. The crystal protein produced by a sporulated culture of this recombinant Bt strain is tested on larvae of Heliothis virescens at different concentrations, and significant mortality of the Cry1Jd toxin was observed. After treatment with the crystal-minus control strain all larvae survived.

Example 6 Production of the Novel Cry Proteins in Transformed Plants

Chimeric genes encoding the truncated forms of the Cry1Bf, Cry1Jd, and Cry9Fa proteins are made as described in EP 0 193 259 and published PCT patent application WO 94/12264, using the CaMV 35S (Hull and Howell, 1987) and ubiquitin (Christensen et al., 1992) promoters. Preferably, the codon usage of the open reading frame is adapted to that of the host plant so as to optimize expression efficiency, as described in published PCT patent application WO 94/12264.

Rice, cotton and corn cells are transformed with the resulting chimeric genes. Corn cells are stably transformed by either Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (Ishida et al., 1996, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,616) or by electroporation using wounded and enzyme-degraded embryogenic callus, as described in WO 92/09696 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,664 (incorporated herein by reference).

Cotton cells are stably transformed by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (Umbeck et al., 1987, Bio/Technology 5, 263-266; U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,863, incorporated herein by reference). Rice cells are stably transformed with the method described in published PCT patent application WO 92/09696.

Regenerated transformed corn, cotton and rice plants are selected by ELISA, Northern and Southern blot and insecticidal effect. Chimeric gene-containing progeny plants show improved resistance to insects compared to untransformed control plants with appropriate segregation of insect resistance and the transformed phenotype. Protein and RNA measurements show that increased insect resistance is linked with higher expression of the novel Cry protein in the plants.

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1.-42. (canceled)
 43. An isolated DNA encoding an insecticidal protein, comprising an amino acid sequence with at least 95% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 4 from amino acid position 1 to amino acid position
 596. 44. The DNA of claim 43, wherein some encoded amino acids in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 4 from amino acid position 1 to amino acid position 596 are substituted by other equivalent amino acids.
 45. The DNA of claim 43, encoding a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 4 from amino acid position 1 to amino acid position
 596. 46. The DNA of claim 45, encoding a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No.
 4. 47. The DNA of claim 43, wherein said DNA hybridizes under stringent hybridization conditions to the DNA of SEQ ID No. 3, wherein said stringent hybridization is by: a) immobilizing DNA on a filter, and prehybridizing said filter for 1 to 2 hours in prehybridization fluid comprised of either 50% formamide, 5% SSPE, 2×Denhardt's reagent and 0.1% SDS at 42° C., or 6×SSC, 2×Denhardt's reagent and 0.1% SDS at 68° C.; b) adding a denatured labeled probe comprising DNA of SEQ ID No. 3 directly to the prehybridization fluid and incubating for 16 to 24 hours at 42° C. if that was the temperature used in step a), or at 68° C. if that was the temperature used in step a); c) after incubation, washing the filters for 20 minutes at room temperature in 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS, followed by three washes of 20 minutes each at 68° C. in 0.2×SSC and 0.1% SDS; d) establishing an autoradiograph by exposing the filters for 24 to 48 hours to X-ray film at −70° C. with an intensifying screen.
 48. The DNA of claim 43, comprising an artificial DNA sequence having a different codon usage compared to the DNA sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 3. 49. A chimeric gene comprising the DNA of claim 43, operably-linked to a plant-expressible promoter.
 50. A plant cell, plant or seed transformed to contain the chimeric gene of claim
 49. 51. The plant cell, plant or seed of claim 50, comprising said chimeric gene integrated in the nuclear or chloroplast DNA of their cells.
 52. The plant cell, plant or seed of claim 51, which is selected from the group consisting of: corn, cotton, rice, oilseed rape, Brassica species, eggplant, soybean, potato, sunflower, tomato, sugarcane, tea, beans, tobacco, strawberry, clover, cucumber, watermelon, pepper, oat, barley, wheat, dahlia, gladiolus, chrysanthemum, sugarbeet, sorghum, alfalfa, and peanut cells, plants or seeds.
 53. A micro-organism, transformed to contain the DNA of claim
 43. 54. The micro-organism of claim 53, which is selected from the genus Agrobacterium, Escherichia, or Bacillus.
 55. A process for controlling insects, said process comprising expressing the DNA of claim 43, or a chimeric gene comprising said DNA operably-linked to a plant-expressible promoter, in host cells, and contacting insects with said host cells.
 56. A process for obtaining a plant with resistance to insects, said process comprising transforming plant cells with the DNA of claim 43, or with a chimeric gene comprising said DNA operably-linked to a plant-expressible promoter, and regenerating transformed plants and progeny thereof which are resistant to insects.
 57. The process of claim 55, wherein said insects are larvae of Heliothis virescens.
 58. The process of claim 56, wherein said insects are larvae of Heliothis virescens.
 59. The process of claim 56, further comprising obtaining seed from said plants comprising said DNA. 